Theopoetics
Encyclopedia
Theopoetics is an emerging field of interdisciplinary study, combining elements of poetic analysis, process theology
, narrative theology
, and postmodern philosophy
.
Theopoetics suggests that instead of trying to develop a “scientific” theory of God such as would a Systematic Theology
, theologians should instead try to find God through poetic articulations of their lived (“embodied”) experiences. It asks theologians to accept reality as a legitimate source of divine revelation, and suggests that both the divine and the real are mysterious — or, irreducible to literalist dogmas or scientific proofs.
Theopoetics makes significant use of “radical” and “ontological” metaphor for the purpose of creating a more fluid and less stringent referent for the Divine. One of the functions of theopoetics is to recalibrate theological perspectives, suggesting that theology can be more akin to poetry than physics. It belies the logical assertion of the Principle of Bivalence
and stands in contrast to some rigid Biblical hermeneutics which suggest that each passage of scripture has only one, usually teleological, interpretation.
While these more strict Literalist approaches believe Scripture and theology possess inerrant factual meaning, and pay little attention to historicity
, a theopoetic approach takes a positive position on faith statements that can be continuously reinterpreted. Just as a poem can take on new meaning depending on the context in which the reader interprets it, so too does theopoetics suggest that texts and experiences of the Divine can, and should, take on new meaning depending on the changing situation of the individual.
Originally developed by Stanley Hopper and David Leroy Miller in 1960s and furthered significantly by Amos Niven Wilder with his 1976 text, . Recently, there has been a revitalized interest with new work being done by Rubem Alves
, Scott Holland, Melanie May, Matt Guynn, Roland Faber, Jason Derr, Catherine Keller
, John Caputo, Peter Rollins
et al.
Process theology
Process theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and further developed by Charles Hartshorne . While there are process theologies that are similar, but unrelated to the work of Whitehead the term is generally applied to the...
, narrative theology
Narrative theology
Postliberal theology began as a late 20th-century development in Christian Theology. It proposes that the Church's use of the Bible should focus on a narrative presentation of the faith as regulative for the development of a coherent systematic theology...
, and postmodern philosophy
Postmodern philosophy
Postmodern philosophy is a philosophical direction which is critical of the foundational assumptions and structures of philosophy. Beginning as a critique of Continental philosophy, it was heavily influenced by phenomenology, structuralism and existentialism, including writings of Georg Wilhelm...
.
Theopoetics suggests that instead of trying to develop a “scientific” theory of God such as would a Systematic Theology
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
, theologians should instead try to find God through poetic articulations of their lived (“embodied”) experiences. It asks theologians to accept reality as a legitimate source of divine revelation, and suggests that both the divine and the real are mysterious — or, irreducible to literalist dogmas or scientific proofs.
Theopoetics makes significant use of “radical” and “ontological” metaphor for the purpose of creating a more fluid and less stringent referent for the Divine. One of the functions of theopoetics is to recalibrate theological perspectives, suggesting that theology can be more akin to poetry than physics. It belies the logical assertion of the Principle of Bivalence
Principle of bivalence
In logic, the semantic principle of bivalence states that every declarative sentence expressing a proposition has exactly one truth value, either true or false...
and stands in contrast to some rigid Biblical hermeneutics which suggest that each passage of scripture has only one, usually teleological, interpretation.
While these more strict Literalist approaches believe Scripture and theology possess inerrant factual meaning, and pay little attention to historicity
Historicity
Historicity may mean:*the quality of being part of recorded history, as opposed to prehistory*the quality of being part of history as opposed to being a historical myth or legend, for example:** Historicity of the Iliad**Historicity...
, a theopoetic approach takes a positive position on faith statements that can be continuously reinterpreted. Just as a poem can take on new meaning depending on the context in which the reader interprets it, so too does theopoetics suggest that texts and experiences of the Divine can, and should, take on new meaning depending on the changing situation of the individual.
Originally developed by Stanley Hopper and David Leroy Miller in 1960s and furthered significantly by Amos Niven Wilder with his 1976 text, . Recently, there has been a revitalized interest with new work being done by Rubem Alves
Rubem Alves
Rubem Azevedo Alves, is a Brazilian theologian, philosopher, educator, writer, and psychoanalyst.Alves was born in Boa Esperança, Minas Gerais...
, Scott Holland, Melanie May, Matt Guynn, Roland Faber, Jason Derr, Catherine Keller
Catherine Keller (theologian)
Catherine Keller is a Process Theologian and is currently a professor of Constructive Theology at New Jersey's Drew University. Like most major voices in Process theology, she studied directly with John B...
, John Caputo, Peter Rollins
Peter Rollins
Peter Rollins is an Irish writer, lecturer, theologian, and philosopher who is associated with the emerging church movement and postmodern Christianity. He is also the founder of the experimental collective Ikon...
et al.
See also
- Biblical theologyBiblical TheologyBiblical theology is a discipline within Christian theology which studies the Bible from the perspective of understanding the progressive history of God revealing Himself to humanity following the Fall and throughout the Old Testament and New Testament...
- Christian theologyChristian theology- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
- Narrative or postliberal theology
- Postmodern ChristianityPostmodern ChristianityPostmodern Christianity is an outlook of Christianity that is closely associated with the body of writings known as postmodern philosophy. Although it is a relatively recent development in the Christian religion, some Christian postmodernists assert that their style of thought has an affinity with...
- Secular TheologySecular theologyThe field of secular theology, a subfield of liberal theology advocated by Anglican bishop John A. T. Robinson somewhat paradoxically combines secularism and theology. Recognized in the 1960s, it was influenced both by neo-orthodoxy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Harvey Cox, and the existentialism of Søren...